Community Outreach Experience

Students gain valuable, hands-on experience through community outreach activities.

Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic

The School of Dentistry has a strong commitment to community outreach, and our community oral health activities are an important part of both our education and service mission.

Outreach experiences provide an opportunity for dental, dental therapy and dental hygiene students to:

  • Develop a broad understanding of the community and social responsibilities they will have as dental professionals.
  • Treat a diversity of patients with a variety of oral health care needs.
  • Enhance their clinical skills.
  • Participate in inter-professional learning experiences.

Students in the last year of their Dental, Dental Therapy, and Dental Hygiene programs participate in community Outreach rotations through the Division of Community Outreach and Engagement. All dental services provided by students in Outreach are overseen by faculty of the School of Dentistry.

Outreach as a Requirement of Graduation

Community outreach experiences are required as a condition of graduation for dental, dental therapy, and dental hygiene students. The Division of Community Outreach and Engagement has partnered with 14 affiliate clinics in MN, ND and SD to assist students in fulfilling their community outreach experience course requirements.

To see what goes on inside the UCare Mobile Dental Clinic, a unique partnership between UCare and the University of Minnesota School of Dentistry, Check out this video produced by UCare and Diamond Lake Lutheran Church.

 

Dental Clinics Affiliated with the Division of Community Outreach and Engagement, School of Dentistry

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Apple Tree Dental Clinic (Fergus Falls, MN)

Apple Tree Dental Fergus Falls building

Established almost 40 years ago, Apple Tree currently operates nine Centers for Dental Health in Minnesota, and have created replication programs in North Carolina, Louisiana, Massachusetts, Texas, and California. Inspired by the Mayo Clinic model, Apple Tree is nationally recognized for its pioneering approach to integrating dental care as part of overall health and well being. With an integrated team of professionals that includes specially trained dentists and a multilingual staff, we provide preventive care and treatment at nine Centers for Dental Health and through our On-Site Care Programs. Working with 200 collaborating organizations, our teams deliver compassionate care to children, adults, and elders who face barriers to care at Head Start Centers, local schools, group homes for people with disabilities, assisted living centers, nursing facilities, and other sites. In partnership with educational institutions, Apple Tree hosts clinical rotations for a variety of students in the health professions and a dental residency program. Apple Tree’s Innovation Center designs new delivery systems, clinical dental education experiences, and pursues policy reforms to help transform the healthcare system.

Apple Tree Dental Clinic (Mounds View, MN)

Apple Tree Dental Clinic

Apple Tree Dental's mission is to overcome barriers to oral health. Apple Tree’s staff works to achieve its mission by delivering education, prevention, and restorative dental services to vulnerable populations and by providing leadership and innovation to transform the health care system.

Apple Tree operates year-round On-Site Care Programs through partnerships with 145 Head Start centers, schools, group homes, senior assisted living programs, and long-term care facilities.  Apple Tree is nationally recognized for their pioneering approach to integrating dental care as part of overall health and well-being, and are proud to serve everyone, transcending age, ability, or need.

CentraCare Dental Clinic (Willmar, MN)

Carris Health Dental Clinic

Greater MN Outreach Experience

CentraCare Dental Clinic is a ten chair dental clinic within the CentraCare-Rice Memorial Hospital. This clinic is designed to treat many of the under-served patients in a surrounding 17 county area. Dental, dental therapy, and dental hygiene students from the University Of Minnesota School Of Dentistry will provide care to patients at this clinic year round. Students who rotate to this Outreach clinic site will spend 2-4 weeks treating a diverse patient population, while being exposed to life and practice in greater Minnesota. 

Family Health Care Dental Clinic (Moorhead, MN)

Family Health Care Clinic building

Family Health Care recognizes the importance of preventive medicine, early intervention, and management of disease. They offer onsite dental care, labs, x-rays, radiology, behavior health assessments, vision care, physical therapy, and a full-service pharmacy. They can also help manage chronic health conditions such as diabetes and heart disease. Family HealthCare plays an important role in supporting the safety and health of their community. By providing preventive medicine and the consistent management of disease for the most vulnerable community members–those with low incomes and diverse cultures– they minimize unnecessary hospitalizations, emergency room trips and complications from untreated health problems.

Faribault HealthFinders (Faribault, MN)

Faribault HealthFinders Collaborative logo

HealthFinders Collaborative is a community health center that provides a comprehensive primary access point to health services for the underserved and uninsured families of Rice and Steele Counties. Through primary care, medication assistance, patient education, advocacy, and community-based wellness programming, HealthFinders works across the continuum of wellness to collaborate and engage communities in their own health. HealthFinders believes in the inherent capacity of our patients and communities to support health and wellness. Established in 2005, HealthFinders is a growing nonprofit in the dynamic field of community health care.

Grand Marais Family Dental (Grand Marais, MN)

Grand Marais Family Dental

Grand Marais Family Dentistry is a family run private practice, creating and maintaining healthy smiles for the Cook County community. Grand Marais Family Dentistry offers all the services you need in a small town clinic with the convenience and state-of-the-art amenities of a larger office.

Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic (Hibbing, MN)

Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic
Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic
Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic

Greater MN Outreach Experience

Hibbing Community College Dental Clinic is located approximately 200 miles north of Minneapolis and is operated as a joint venture between the University of Minnesota and the Hibbing Community College (HCC). The clinic is operated in collaboration with the existing dental assisting program at HCC. The patient population is primarily the underserved families of St. Louis, Lake, Cook, and Carlton Counties. Dental students assigned to this clinic become familiar with the characteristics of a rural practice and develop an understanding of operating such a practice.

Mobile Dental Clinic

Mobile Dental Clinic
Mobile Dental Clinic

Metro Area & Greater MN Outreach Experience

The Mobile Dental Clinic (MDC) is owned by UCare, an independent, non-profit health plan company. The clinic offers dental services to UCare members who have limited access to dental care. The MDC travels into the community to serve a population that is underserved due to multiple access issues. The mission of the MDC is to provide preventive and primary dental care services to pediatric, adult, patients with special needs, and senior populations and to assist UCare members in finding a dental home. In addition to enhancing clinical skills, the MDC rotation includes the opportunity for dental students to become familiar with the management aspects of a 3-chair dental clinic, to develop an awareness of patients who have been underserved by dental care, and to identify the nature of dental needs in various communities of the Twin Cities and in greater Minnesota.

Native American Community Clinic (Minneapolis, MN)

Native American Community Clinic

The Native American Community Clinic (NACC) opened its doors in 2003 to address the health disparities within the urban Native American community of the Twin Cities. Our mission is to promote the health & wellness of mind, body, and spirit of Native American families. We offer a full range of healthcare services that include Medical, Behavioral Health, Dental, and Substance Abuse programs. NACC approaches healthcare by addressing root causes of health disparities including access to food, housing and health insurance with services such as resource navigation, care coordination, outreach and community-based activities through the use of our peer recovery coaches and community health workers. NACC strives to honor health and tradition by providing spiritual care and access to traditional healing through our Elders in Residence.

NorthPoint Health and Wellness (Minneapolis, MN)

NorthPoint

NorthPoint Health & Wellness Center offers full service dental care and is one of the largest dental clinics in the metro area, providing quality care to both adults and children.

The clinic’s dental services include:

  • Preventative care
  • Restorative care
  • Emergency care
  • Digital X-ray
  • Prosthodontic care (full and partial dentures)
  • Pedodontic care (children)

The NorthPoint dental clinic staff are highly skilled, respectful, caring and culturally sensitive. They offer interpreter services for non-English speaking patients, and financial counselors to assist with enrollment in various insurance and payment plans.

People's Center Clinics and Services (Minneapolis, MN)

People's Center Clinics entrance with flowers

People's Center Clinics & Services ("People's Center"), is a Federally Qualified
Health Center ("FQHC")  located in the Cedar-Riverside neighborhood in Minneapolis. Their primary location has been utilized first as a volunteer health care center for students and residents of the West Bank since 1970, and in 2003, People’s Center became an official FQHC. They care for our patients regardless of their ability to pay, and most of them are insured by Medicaid and other government programs. Our patient population is primarily from the surrounding community, recent immigrants, with a high percentage of patients from Somalia or other East African countries and students from Augsburg and the University of Minnesota. Dental students assigned to People's Center will become familiar with the characteristics of an inner-city practice, as well as gain experience in developing quality dental
treatment plans to meet the needs and financial constraints of low-income patients.

Ready, Set, Smile Dental Clinic (Minneapolis, MN)

Ready Set Smile logo

Ready Set Smile (RSS) is a non-profit founded to help eliminate oral health disparities by providing culturally responsive, school-based dental care and classroom education to children who lack access to care. They offer critical dental care in schools that serve children in poverty, many of whom are unable to visit a dentist due to financial, transportation, or cultural barriers and, as a result, have untreated dental decay. RSS staff provide routine preventive services and minimally invasive, caries-controlling techniques on-site at partner schools. This clinic's model fills a critical service need by reducing the number of children with active dental decay.

Scenic Rivers Dental Clinic (Cook, MN)

Scenic Rivers Dental Clinic
Scenic Rivers Dental Clinic

Greater MN Outreach Experience

Scenic Rivers Health Services Cook Dental Clinic is located in Cook, MN. This is a busy Community Health Center with experienced general dentists, hygienists, dental assistants, and excellent support staff. This outreach experience provides dental students a wonderful opportunity to experience life and practice in rural, northern Minnesota.

Spectra Health (Grand Forks, ND)

Spectra Health
Spectra Health

North Dakota Outreach Experience

Spectra Health is located in Grand Forks, North Dakota in the Deaconess Building. The clinic is a busy Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC) that treats a diverse population of all ages. Spectra Health offers restorative dentistry, endodontics, oral surgery, and removable prosthetics as well as preventative dental services. This is a four week clinical rotation for dental students. This is an outreach rotation designed to expose students from the School of Dentistry to dental practice in North Dakota, while providing a valuable clinical experience for our students.

South Dakota Outreach Experiences

Horizon Health De Smet

Horizon Health De Smet Dental (De Smet, SD)

De Smet Dental Services is located within the De Smet Community Health Center. De Smet Dental Clinic offers digital intraoral panoramic x-rays, full family oral health services, including preventive care and restorative dentistry. This is an outreach rotation designed to expose two students from the School of Dentistry to dental practice in rural South Dakota, while providing a valuable clinical experience for our students.

Horizon Health Martin

Horizon Health Martin Dental (Martin, SD)

Martin Dental Clinic is one of eight dental clinics operated by Horizon Health Care, Inc. Horizon currently has 31 medical and dental community health centers in South Dakota. As a community health center, much of the patient population is low-income families who come to us because of our sliding fee program. However, Horizon’s medical and dental clinics do see patients of all financial classes and accept all major insurances. This varied patient base provides our dental students an opportunity to customize their treatment plans to their patients’ needs while still offering quality care to all patients no matter their financial abilities.

Howard Dental

Horizon Health Howard Dental (Howard, SD)

Howard Dental in Howard, South Dakota is a ten chair dental clinic owned by Horizon Health Care, a non-profit organization committed to providing health care to underserved patients throughout South Dakota. Two students from the University Of Minnesota School of Dentistry spend four weeks at Prairie Winds Dental Clinic through a collaboration with Horizon Health Care and the State of South Dakota. This is an outreach rotation designed to expose two students from the School of Dentistry to dental practice in rural South Dakota, while providing a valuable clinical experience for our students.

IHS/Tribal Outreach opportunities for dental students

The two-week IHS/Tribal Outreach opportunity is a time when senior dental students may volunteer to participate in a IHS/Tribal Outreach opportunity. This experience provides the students with an opportunity to increase their confidence in providing clinical dental care, as well as experience the dynamics of clinical practice at an Indian Health Service/Tribal health care facility. The School of Dentistry collaborates with four Indian Health Service/Tribal sites, all of which are located in northern Minnesota.

Indian Health Service (IHS) and Tribal Outreach opportunities (Dental Externships through the IHS) are School of Dentistry sanctioned experiences for fourth year dental students. Current third year dental students must NOT apply for an Indian Health Service (IHS) Dental Externship without the approval of the School of Dentistry Outreach Division office.

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Cass Lake Hospital (Cass Lake, MN)

Cass Lake Hospital

IHS/Tribal Outreach Externship Experience

Cass Lake, MN

This clinic provides nearly every phase of dentistry (except Orthodontics and Implants). The clinics primary focus has been oral surgery, Endodontics, and Pediatrics. The facility is located 13 miles west of Bemidji, MN where outdoor activities abound: biking, hiking, skiing (water & snow) hunting, and fishing.

Min-No-Aya-Win Health Center (Cloquet, MN)

Min-No-Aya-Win

IHS/Tribal Outreach Externship Experience

Cloquet, MN

The Fond Du Lac Reservation lies in the scenic woods of northern Minnesota. The dental clinic is adjacent to downtown Cloquet, which is 22 miles from Duluth, MN. The dental clinic provides a full range of preventive oral care including periodontal, full and partial dentures, root canals, bleaching, oral surgery, and limited Orthodontics.

Red Lake Hospital (Red Lake, MN)

Red Lake Hospital

IHS/Tribal Outreach Externship Experience

Red Lake, MN

The clinic is located among the heavily wooded rolling hills, lakes, swaps, and prairies 35 minutes north of Bemidji, Minnesota. Home to the Red Lake Band of Chippewa, it has the highest Native American population outside of Minneapolis. The clinic can provide a variety of dental procedures (except Orthodontics and Implants) primarily sees Oral Surgery, Endodontic, and Pediatric Dentistry patients.

White Earth (Ogema, MN)

White Earth

IHS/Tribal Outreach Externship Experience

Ogema, MN

Located 20 miles north of the resort town of Detroit Lakes, MN where fishing, kayaking, water-skiing, hiking, biking, cross country skiing, and snowmobiling are a few of the recreational activities. The White Earth Health Center operates three dental clinics. The main clinic in Ogema is an ambulatory care facility with nine chairs. There are two satellite clinics, Naytahwaush, and Pinepint, MN each with 2 operatories and operated on a part-time bases. The clinics provide the full range of preventive dentistry.